Second Chances: Interview with Michael Kalmbach, Artist and the Director of The Creative Vision Factory

Have you ever felt disappointed in the course of your art career and even doubted your journey? On this episode, Michael Kalmbach shares his story of overcoming addiction, navigating his own art career and using parts of his story and life experiences to serve the community. Michael is a contemporary artist and the director of The Creative Vision Factory. The Creative Vision Factory provides individuals on the behavioral health spectrum opportunities for self-expression, empowerment and recovery through the arts. Members are free to pursue a wide array of visual, literary and performing arts. Workshops, personalized instruction, and open studio time allow each artist to develop and pursue their own creative practice. www.michaelkalmbach.com www.thecreativevisionfactory.org Michael Kalmbach received his MFA at the University of Delaware in 2008. Shortly after graduation he accepted a position at the Delaware College of Art & Design, and founded the New Wilmington Art Association, an organization that organized exhibitions of contemporary art in Wilmington's vacant retail spaces from August 2008 to April 2013. This work led to Michael's involvement with the Chris White Community Development Corporation, which developed the 23-unit artist live/work space, Shipley Lofts. Kalmbach served the CWCDC as Board Chairman from 2013-2016. In June 2011 he accepted a contract with the State's Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health to develop and direct an art program in downtown Wilmington. The Creative Vision Factory has been open since December of 2011, and fosters the creative potential of individuals on the behavioral health spectrum in a studio art environment that cultivates integration with the community through a program of exhibitions, workshops, and communal work space. The Creative Vision Factory opened its doors in December of 2011. Funded by the State of Delaware's Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, it is one of several peer-run programs incubated by the sweeping reform of Delaware's greater mental health system. The Creative Vision Factory is on a path to 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. As a peer-run nonprofit agency, the Factory will be uniquely situated to serve the community, in the heart of an arts and cultural district, that sees the behavioral health population as a genuine partner in the development of a more creative and just City of Wilmington.